Interviews

Interviews: Ahimsa Theory

What can be said of Ahimsa Theory could easily take pages and pages so we thought we'd just see what they had to say instead. So we hit up Gabe Beldsoe to find out what was on his mind. If you haven't already heard of this new amazing band out of Eugene, Oregon than you simply must get off your duff and seek them out. Read our review of their self-titled debut, which is just as impressive as the fact that they were able to do this completely on their own. More Ahimsa Theory on Smother.Net.

Smother: What led to the formation of Ahimsa Theory?

Gabe: Warren and I are life-long friends, and we had a couple of bands back in high school. When we got to Eugene, we wanted to start performing again, but we did so just as a duo. When we met Spencer, the three of us fell into musical love with each other and so Ahimsa Theory is our bastard love-child.

Smother: How's Eugene been treating you lately? Are you guys ready to storm the entire nation?

Gabe: Eugene has been a great place for us to start out because it really has a nuturing local scene and the fans are really loyal to their bands. We are going to be touring throughout the summer starting in June and in the fall to promote the album. The summer tour will be more of a west coast tour and for the fall tour we plan on doing a national tour.

Smother: Since that area of the nation is more known for '90's grunge, how do you think you guys fit in? How's the scene anyways?

Gabe: We were actually somewhat worried about how we would fit into Eugene's local scene because its really saturated with hardcore metal groups and equally hardcore political punk bands. We figured we would be completely shunned because we were often billed with bands that had totally different sounds and attitudes. But, people were surprisingly receptive and I think we've made a name for ourselves here because we are so different from many of the other acts.

Smother: Why the name Ahimsa Theory?

Gabe: a·him·sa : A Buddhist and Hindu doctrine expressing belief in the sacredness of all living creatures and urging the avoidance of harm and violence.
We chose the name because we wanted a name that had meaning to us and wasn't just a trendy name everyone was using at the time. The name actually goes back to high school, when Warren and I (Gabe) were in a different band.

Smother: Whose been the greatest influence to you musically? What about all the other facets of life?

Gabe: We have a variety of influences in our band. Warren and I generally have been influenced by the same music. But our drummer, Spencer, was brought up more on classic rock and music of that nature, which helps bring in a different perspective. I listen to Incubus, Dead Poetic, Head Automatica...stuff like that. I love the Doors too. A lot of the songs I write are of course influenced by my own personal experiences such as mistakes and "happy accidents" that I have made in my life.

Smother: How does your singer accomplish such a wide range of vocals?

Gabe: Lots of practice, vocal coaches, green tea with honey, and Kelly Clarkson CD's.

Smother: What does a typical Ahimsa Theory show entail?

Gabe: We've had everything from band strip-teases, to robot contests, to marriage proposals...and oh yeah, we play some bad ass music too!

Smother: Thus far, what’s been your favorite show or tour that you guys have been involved with?

Gabe: Well we recently played a show at the Aladdin Theater in Portland and that was a great venue because of its capacity and the sound in there was great. However, based on sheer audience participation and sweatiness, the Meow Meow was fantastic. Those kids know how to shake their tail-feathers.

Smother: How on earth are you guys going to follow up your self-titled release?

Gabe: We have already started writing for our next album actually. The music is in a completely different direction. We didn't want our follow up album to sound like a continuation of our last album. We don't want to disappoint ourselves or our fans.

Smother: What's currently rocking your Playstation/Xbox/Gamecube?

Gabe: Nothing. We are avid Mahjong players and we take it very seriously!.

Smother: Any movie recommendations or music that you’d like to tell others about?

Gabe: Well... obviously each and everyone one of you reading this should get our album! For music we would recommend checking out Head Automatica, Dead Poetic, Underoath, Incubus and The Police. There are plenty of others, but it would take me all day to write them all out. For Movies... Donnie Darko, Incubus: Alive at Red Rocks, Napoleon Dynamic and Seven.

Smother: We always ask this one question of all the people we interview to see who gives us the funniest or most interesting response--What would do/say if you met a guy named Carbomb?

Gabe: Carbomb what?

Smother: Thanks for hooking us with your thoughts! Good luck in the future, though armed with your kind of talent, you don't need "luck"!

Links:

Official Site

Ahimsa Theory on MySpace

Ahimsa Theory on Purevolume

Visit the Ahimsa Theory e-store